Princeton Today: House of Debt

Princeton University Professor Atif Mian will discuss his book House of Debt: How They (and You) Caused the Great Recession, and How We Can Prevent It from Happening Again from 4:30 to 6 p.m. today in Dodds Auditorium at the Woodrow Wilson School on Washington Road. The event is free and open to the public. A book sale, signing and public reception will follow the discussion.

Mian is the Theodore A. Wells ’29 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs and director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science and Ph.D. in economics from MIT. Prior to joining Princeton in 2012, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago. His work studies the connections between finance and the macro economy.

His latest book, House of Debt, written with Amir Sufi, builds upon new data to describe how debt precipitated the Great Recession. The book explains why debt continues to threaten the global economy, and what needs to be done to fix the financial system. House of Debt is critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal,The Economist, and The Atlantic. Lawrence Summers praised the book as the most important work to come out of the 2008 financial crisis and the top economics book of 2014.

Film “The Internet’s Own Boy” – Director Brian Knappenberger’s documentary follows Internet activist and programming pioneer Aaron Swartz who took his own life at the age of 26. It traces Swartz’s teenage emergence on the Internet scene, through his involvement in RSS and Reddit, to his increased interest in political advocacy. The film also explores the controversial actions Swartz allegedly took in downloading nearly 4 million academic articles from the online service JSTOR. 7 p.m. Princeton Public Library Community Room. Free.

Antony and Cleopatra at McCarter Theatre – The last week of performances. Shakespeare play combines history, tragedy, and romance. Only a few tickets left. 7:30 p.m. Berlind Theatre. 91 University Place, Princeton. www.mccarter.org

As of 8:30 a.m. trains in and out of New York were subject to 15-20 min. delays due to an earlier disabled New Jersey Transit train.

Expect delays Rt. 206 between Hillsborough Road and the Montgomery border as traffic will be alternated in both directions due to road work. Work should be completed around 3 p.m.
Overnight paving in Montgomery on Route 601 will take place until about Oct. 3. Southbound traffic only on 601 between Route 206 and Grandview Road from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

One lane closure for the reconstruction and realignment of Route 518 between Canal Road and Route 27, alternating traffic weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., expected to begin today or tomorrow. Nov. 10 to Nov. 21: 24/7 road closure with detour. Nov. 24 to Dec. 23rd road closure with detour weekdays 9a.m. to 4 p.m.. This will be a long-term project with an expected completion at the end of 2015.

In South Brunswick, avoid Davidson Mill Road between Fresh Ponds Road and Rt 535 (Cranbury South River Rd.) due to paving until 4 p.m. One lane open. Expect delays.

In Lawrence, milling and resurfacing work slated for Pennington- Lawrenceville Road (County Route 546) from Federal City Road to U.S. Route 206. New Jersey American Water is reconstructing Route 206 between the Fackler Road Extension and Province Line Road as part of a water main project the company completed last year. The work is being done mostly from 9 .m. to 6 a.m.